


SI Tower Defence Squad

by MavisNolan



Series: So, you want to be a Stark Industries Employee [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Iron Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Janet from HR, Michael from Legal, Mina the A.I., Ron from R&D, SI Employees - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2017-11-16
Packaged: 2019-01-29 23:48:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12641760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MavisNolan/pseuds/MavisNolan
Summary: It occurred to me that considering how Stark/Avengers Tower is pretty much just a massive, super-visible bulls-eye in the middle of Manhattan, SI employees must be incredibly jaded to supervillain attacks. It probably happens at least once a month, like clockwork, and everyone is used to it - part and parcel of life working at SI after all.Oh hey, the alarms are going off again. Let’s pick up our bags, our files, our coffee and head to the nearest evacuation exit. Maybe the workday won’t be completely wasted if the situation with “le méchant du jour” / “el villano del día” is resolved by lunch break. In the meantime, you wanna head to that cafe down the street? I heard they are trying out a new pastry recipe.But let’s just say, one day, the Avengers were out on a mission or something and the Tower was left undefended… How would SI employees respond to an attack to their workplace?Here’s a little spin-off from my Life as a SI Employee drabbles. Because I obviously have things under control and there is no better time to initiate another writing project.





	1. Chapter 1

“Good morning, Michael!”

Michael from the Legal Department of Stark Industries grunted in reply as he tossed his shoulder bag onto the floor beside his desk, placed his coffee on the desk, and shrugged off his jacket. Morning commute in New York was the devil. 

Tossing his jacket onto the back of his chair, Michael tapped on the spacebar of his keyboard and waited for his PC to emerge from sleep mode. He sipped on his third cup of coffee that morning and sighed in contentment. Contentment, that did not last long. 

“I said,” came a disgruntled voice from the StarkTop sitting beside his awakening PC. “Good morning, Michael.”

Michael rolled his eyes, and began logging onto his computer. “Good morning, Mina.” he replied grumpily. And figuring he might as well be polite, “How are you?”

“Doing very well actually, thank you for asking,” replied his personal virtual assistant happily. “An update to your schedule today. The meeting for the Hammer lawsuit has been shifted to a later slot, so it will now be happening at 1:30pm, not 11:00am. That is the only meeting you will have for today, as you know, since you cancelled the lunch date I create for you and Janet. Again. For the third time.”

Michael huffed, “I have told you a hundred times already, Mina. Janet and I are co-workers, friends. Nothing more. I’m most certainly not taking her out on a date.”

“That’s that you think,” if computers could sniff dismissively, Mina would be doing that right now. “Denial ain't just a river in Egypt,” she muttered. “You have 169 emails awaiting your perusal. I took the liberty of scanning them for you. The ones of greatest priority are tagged. Oh, good morning, Ronnie darling! How are you this fine morn?”

Michael looked up at the non-sequitur, and noticed Ron from R&D poised in the motion of knocking on his doorframe. Giving the man a quick, welcoming smile, Michael waved him in. 

“Hey, Michael, Mina,” greeted the bespectacled man. “I’m doing great Mina, thanks for asking. How is the new prototype processor working? Good? I was worried when we installed it last week. I wasn’t sure if it would work, and I don’t want to introduce anything into your system that could damage you.”

“Oh, my love,” Mina positively purred. “I love to have anything from you on me, software or hardware. Would you like to take another look at my programming code? Our last experience together was...exhilarating.” 

Ron laughed in delight as he settled down in the chair Michael had specifically moved into his office for people that often drop by to interact or chat with Mina. Ever since word spread through the company of his suddenly coming into possession of a fully-sentient artificial intelligence, people had flocked to his office from all over the building. Most were only ever there out of excitement and curiosity, but Ron had made it his daily routine to drop by every morning to check in on both Michael and Mina. 

Afterall, he and his team had been the one to work on the codes for the virtual assistant program. No one had been able to figure out why or how exactly Michael’s StarkTop had gain sentience when the other nine test-prototypes had operated as they were supposed to. In order to figure out this little puzzle, Ron had been interacting with Mina as much as possible, as both human and computer worked together to discover how it was that she came into existence. Ron had been extremely careful not to perform too many intrusive tests on Mina, and the few in-depth diagnostics tests performed so far had only occurred after she had provided explicit permission. 

It helped that, for some inexplicable reason, Ron and Mina got along like a house on fire. Mina absolutely adored the R&D team lead and never missed an opportunity to flirt outrageously with the man. Ron in turn, had been completely charmed by the attention and gamely accepted the come-ons as his due. 

Frankly, Michael was torn between being amused, confused, and horrified by the unexpected relationship. 

He had offered to have Mina moved down to R&D where she would be able to spend more time with her favourite human, but Mina had demurred, claiming that Michael was her primary responsibility and that he desperately needed her supervision. When pushed, she had imperious declared that she doubted Michael’s ability to organise his work day without her aid, and refused to elaborate further.

Michael would never admit this, even on pain of death, but it was true that ever since Mina came into his life, he had been able to actually leave work on time. And his sleep routine had never been better. Nonetheless, there was no point in inflating the A.I.’s ego was there? 

As Michael sorted through his morning correspondence, he listened absent-mindedly to the chatter in the background. Spotting the highlighted emails Mina had tagged, Michael obligingly clicked on one of them to read the content. 

Michael began to lose himself in his work as Ron and Mina's conversation faded into the background as white noise. The ongoing lawsuit against Hammer Industries was one of the best gift to have ever fallen onto the laps of SI’s team of lawyers. It involved damages sued for corporate espionage, property damage and everything the bloodthirsty sharks at SI Legal can throw at Hammer Industries. Michael wondered what made the idiot thought he would ever successfully steal anything from Anthony Stark without repercussion. And making a mess at the Stark Expo too. The man must had a death wish. Well in any case, Michael expected to have Hammer Industry sued to bankruptcy long before the idiot made it out of jail.

A notification window from Mina suddenly popped onto the screen, directing his attention to an urgent memo someone from Human Resources had forwarded to him. Since Michael had stubbornly refused to abandon his beloved PC to work on the brand new StarkTop sitting on his desk, a compromise had to be reached. With some fancy coding and a series of complicated wire crossing, Ron had managed to rig a system that allowed Mina remote access to Michael’s computer. It allowed her to manipulate the PC system without overtaxing it, since the bulk of her processing still operated out of the StarkTop computer in which she was housed. 

And to be honest, the thought of typing on the StarkTop keyboard with Mina possessing the physical machine felt a little inappropriate and frankly intrusive as hell, considering how she was pretty much a living thing in her own right. Michael moved his mouse cursor over to the notification window and was about to open the memo, when the power suddenly went out.

Michael reared back from his computer in shock just as Ron gasped. 

The light from Mina's screen was the only source of light in the office as the StarkTop was designed with a battery component. Outside his office, Michael could hear the confused murmurs of his colleagues. 

“What’s going on, Mina?” he asked. 

There was a brief pause, before Mina’s replied, “I am not sure. I have lost all access to the company network. Fortunately, my connection to the Stark satellites in orbit is still working. Satellite images shows widespread power outage across Manhattan.” 

Since when was Mina capable of connecting directly with satellites in space, wondered Michael. He resolved to pay closer attention the next time Ron attempted to fiddle with his A.I. 

Ron frowned. “That’s strange. Stark Tower is powered by the arc reactor. Our power supply is independent of the city's power grid. Whatever is affecting the city should not be influencing us.” He glanced up at the lights, Mina’s light casting ominous shadows on his face. “Also backup power is not kicking in. That is not normal.”

“Something isn’t right,” Mina agreed. “I don’t know what it is, but something is most certainly wrong. I can’t get in touch with JARVIS. I think it may be a good idea to evacuate the building, both of you.” 

Both humans agreed, and it seemed that most of the employees on the floor were of like mind. Already, Michael and Ron could hear people carefully shuffling to their designated evacuation routes. As Michael grabbed his phone and made to join Ron who was already waiting for him at the door, an unexpected surge of concern rose in his chest. He turned back to Mina. “What about you?” he asked. “What are you going to do?”

Mina’s reply was gentle, “I will be entering sleep mode until you are back. Don’t worry about me, I will be just fine.” When Michael hesitated again, she prodded, “Go.”

And with that, Mina initiated the StarkTop sleep mode. Michael exchanged worried glances with Ron as they began making their way to the evacuation stairwell, using the flashlight function on his phone to light the way. 

As they joined the trickle of people moving down the stairs, Ron murmured aloud, “I hope this isn’t a supervillain attack or something. Where are the Avengers, do you know?”

“Last I heard, they were somewhere out East.” Michael responded. “Helping out Reed Richards with misbehaving portals, or something.” He couldn’t help but grin when Ron muttered something degrading about Richards, the man’s questionable parentage, and his non-existent intelligence.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Michael followed the crowd of SI employees making their way down a dark stairwell that was lit only by flashlights and phone screens. He reflected on the pros-and-cons of working in a building where the top ten floors were home to a group of superheroes.

Michael followed the crowd of SI employees making their way down a dark stairwell that was lit only by flashlights and phone screens. He reflected on the pros-and-cons of working in a building where the top ten floors were home to a group of superheroes. Michael had been excited at first, when he heard rumours of Tony Stark opening his tower to the superhero team. He had looked forward to catching sight of members of the Avengers every once in awhile. The last time he had called home to brag about having seen Captain America in the flesh, his sister’s jealous response had been most satisfying.

Michael was mature enough to acknowledge his inner teenager and confess that working where superheroes lived was the coolest thing, ever. For a while at least; until supervillains decided that the Tower, being the domicile of a group of world-famous superheroes, was the perfect target onto which they may vent their frustrations. 

The first supervillain attack that occurred after Loki’s infamous failed attempt at world domination had caused absolute panic and mayhem throughout the Tower. Fortunately, Virginia “Pepper” Potts ran a tight ship, and the efficient CEO had the building evacuated without major injuries. By the third supervillain attack, the novelty of having superheroes literally living over one’s head had worn off and resignation had settled instead. Nowadays, monthly supervillain attacks were simply part and parcel of everyday life as a SI employee.

A sudden loud boom had Michael instinctively clasping his hands over his ears. The tower shuddered violently, dirt and bits of plaster falling from the ceiling as everyone in the stairwell grabbed onto railings, walls, or each other to keep their footing. Michael was pretty sure Ron’s horrified look was mirrored on his own face. That did not sound good. 

“That sounded like it came from the lower levels,” Ron whispered, reaching a hand down to help someone to their feet. “Do you think it’s safe to keep going down?”

Michael glanced at the stunned, terrified, and worried faces around him. No answer seemed forthcoming. Before he could say anything though, a muffled clunk sounded from beyond the stairwell exit closest to them. People shifted away from the door and eyed it warily. 

After a moment of silence, when nothing appeared to be coming through, everyone relaxed slightly. 

Michael studied the floor number painted on the wall next to the exit. They were on the forty-seventh floor, where the Human Resources Department was located. He turned to Ron and tilted his head at the door. 

“That’s HR,” he murmured.

Ron eyed the door as well and nodded. “Have you heard from Janet at all this morning?” he asked.

Michael’s eyes widened. Janet usually drops by his office in the mornings to say hi to Mina as well. She had not appeared this morning. A sense of foreboding rose in his belly. He turned back to the door. 

“Should we investigate that?” 

The loud whisper had come from one of the other employees standing near them. The young man gestured to the door. “I mean, the noise, could it be someone asking for help? Should we go check it out?”

“And run into the arms of whatever alien might be out there? Are you crazy, boy?” snapped a portly old man.

“Well, someone needs to know what is going on. We can’t hide out in here forever,” the young man retorted softly.

A vision of Janet’s laughing face, and Michael pursed his lips in determination. “I’ll go,” he whispered, stepping towards the door, only for Ron to grab him by his arm.

“Are you nuts?” the man whispered harshly. “We don’t know what’s out there!”

“Janet may need help,” Michael replied.

Ron blinked. He studied Michael’s face. After a tense moment, his shoulders slumped and he released his grip on the lawyer. “About damned time. Although seriously man, your timing sucks.”

Michael frowned at the man in confusion but Ron ignored him, turning to a group of SI employees huddled behind them. “Do any of you have something he might be able to use as a weapon? To defend himself with?”

“Erm…” a timid hand rose from near the middle of the huddle. “I have an umbrella?”

“Perfect,” Ron replied. “Pass it over.”

Michael watched the exchange in befuddlement. Why… Really? Who evacuates a building with an umbrella? He fumbled as the folding umbrella was pressed into his hands, and the next thing he knew, Ron was pushing him towards the door by his shoulders. 

“I’ll hold the fort here,” Ron said, voice low. “So don’t worry about us. You stay safe, you hear me? Don’t be stupid, and don’t be a hero. If you see anything weird, you come back here immediately, capisci?” 

And with that, Michael found himself shoved into the middle of a darkened hallway, alone, and the door to the emergency stairwell closed with a gentle and final click. 

Michael looked at the umbrella in his hand. Right. He pushed the button to extend the umbrella to its full length without allowing it to unfold, flipped the equipment around so he was holding it by the folds of polyester like he imagined how one would wield a sword. Michael flexed his grip, inhaled deeply twice, girded his loins, and began to creep forward, maintaining a hunched posture in an attempt to make himself less visible. 

Peering warily around office doors as he made his way down the hallway. Michael clutched the trusty umbrella closed to his chest. He had walked down these hallways multiple times whenever he had meetings, or when he had some rare free time to drop by Janet’s cubicle for a chat. He was familiar with the layout of the floor, but without power, the dark, abandoned hallways felt sinister, even malignant, and Michael felt the hairs on the back of his neck begin to stand. 

A few feet further, Michael froze when he heard muffled voices around the corner. He briefly considered hightailing it back to the stairwell, but shook his head, inhaled, and held his breath as he pushed forward, tiptoeing warily. As he arrived at the hallway intersection, Michael pressed his back against the wall and carefully peeked around the corner. 

One glance was more than enough. He whipped back behind the wall and pressed his back even harder against it, breath coming short and quick. “Shit”, panted Michael under his breath, “Shit. A.I.M.” 

Gulping, Michael leaned over the wall one more time. Indeed, standing by the HR receptionist desk, was a group of five people dressed in infamous yellow beekeeper uniforms of A.I.M goons, carrying guns. Big guns. Two of them appeared to be rummaging through the drawers in the receptionist desk.

Having seen enough, Michael slowly pulled his head back and began making his way back to the stairwell as quickly and as quietly as possible, doing his damnedest not to hyperventilate as he went. They are in so, so, so much trouble! He needed to warn Ron and the others. And oh god, Janet. Was she alright? Did she make it out of the building? Was she captured by the villains? 

Michael was so caught up in his panic, he failed to notice movement behind him. He most certainly noticed however, when huge hands landed on him, one covered his mouth and nose, the other gripped him by his nape. He dropped the umbrella he had been holding onto so desperately.

As Michael began flailing his arms and legs in an attempt to free himself, more hands landed on his person, grabbing hold of thrashing limbs, immobilizing him. His cries were muffled by the hand over his mouth, he couldn’t breathe! 

Michael struggled as valiantly as he could, but he was simply no match for the enemies. He was only a simple human after all. As he ran out of precious air, his vision began to fade. His last thoughts were for his oblivious colleagues in the stairwell who had no idea just how much danger they were in. He thought about his loving mother, his aging father, and his irritating if adored baby sister. 

The darkness closed in, and Michael knew no more.


End file.
